Kathryn sent us the next reader success story: adventuring in Moab. Moab is one of our readers’ favorite places to use points and miles. Here is Kathryn’s story:

For my boys’ fall break (they’re ages five and eight), I knew I wanted to stay with Hyatt. At first, we tried desperately to make Costa Rica work but ultimately decided against it because our fall break period was during their rainy season.

A Hotel on Credit Card Points

I  did a quick Google search for great Hyatts for kids in the fall. The Hyatt Place Moab quickly caught my attention. I booked five nights for a total of 66,000 points (but since this booking, the hotel has increased by a category and now requires more points per night to book). I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards® from to Hyatt—all from opening Chase Ink business cards. The cash price at the time of booking was $1,663.

The Hyatt Place Moab was clean and perfect for us, and it had a great breakfast in the mornings. Additionally, the hotel allowed us to have late check-out.

 

 

Flights on Credit Card Points

We flew United Airlines into Moab using 138,000 Ultimate Rewards® that I transferred to United. I earned these points by opening Chase Ink business cards for myself and my Player 2. We could have flown into Salt Lake City and saved some points, but that would have meant we’d have to take two flights and also have a long drive after landing. Our whole family would have gotten motion sickness, so this was worth it for us. The cash price for the flights would have been $1,499 for our family.

We rented a car, which cost a few hundred dollars. We ended up renting from a local company (Canyonlands Car & Jeep Rental), which was a game-changer, because the line at the Enterprise counter was obscene. Basically, the whole flight was renting a car, and there was only one nationally known rental car company there, so we avoided that throng by going with the local company.

 

Visiting the National Parks

We spent four days in the national parks: two days at Canyonlands and two days at Arches. Both are beautiful! We also did a you-drive UTV tour, which was by far the highlight for my boys! The company we used was Outlaw Jeep Tours, and we did the Hell’s Revenge route.

What we didn’t realize when booking was that Canyonlands National Park was one of the few places in the U.S. where you could view the annual solar eclipse. Of course, this meant the town, hotel, and park were packed!! But it was a cool experience, and we were able to see the eclipse when we were at Canyonlands.

 

 

This was a great time of year to visit the area! There was perfect weather for hiking and there was so much sunshine. It was also warm enough that my boys could swim in the afternoons.

Remember that restaurants and businesses start cutting their hours in the fall because it is towards the end of their season. Multiple times, we’d try a particular restaurant, and there would be a closed sign on the door that we didn’t expect.

I also should have planned activities a bit better. At the last minute, we decided we wanted to raft/kayak the Colorado River, but the one company that would allow my younger son wasn’t open on the one day we were free.  We had a great trip anyway, and I would recommend a trip to Moab!

Thanks so much, Kathryn, for your reader success story—adventuring in Moab sounds like a lot of fun!

 

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